


A Tale of Two Crutches

by Pas (Mek)



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-10 19:03:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2036469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mek/pseuds/Pas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The chronology of Carson and Rodney's relationship earmarked by crutch use.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tale of Two Crutches

**Author's Note:**

> First posted to LJ on 14 December 2005.
> 
> Original Note: Beta by mice1900 and heuradys. For zortified who needed cheering.

The first time Carson handed over a pair of the Outpost's crutches to McKay was during his second month in Antarctica and it had been completely unnecessary. But the man had been complaining long and loudly after his little slip on some ice with vehemence truly worthy of an award. And Carson had been exhausted. However, it was not his fatigue that had stopped him from pointing out that the nurse had set the crutches two adjustments too short. Rather, it was the -- as Grodin had coined -- dread MH: McKay-Headache. It was an ache that seated itself dead center of one's brain at the start of a rant by its namesake and wouldn't fade until a good hour after the diatribe ended.   
  
In the end, that stint had lasted three whole days, ending with threats of a malpractice suit and demands for a massage.   
  
Carson had ignored both.  
  
The second time Carson handed over the crutches -- now labeled Atlantis Expedition Crutches Four of Five -- had been after a freak accident with gravity, Rondey's foot placement, and stairs. The man's torqued left knee had needed to be rested so he had "foisted" them onto Rondey. After the first week, he only saw the crutches when he and Rodney would eat together (which was rare considering their schedules), but a little bird had told him that that was the only time they were used. By the third week, he didn't see them at all.  
  
On the Wednesday of week four, Carson rescued them from a corner of Rodney's lab.  
  
The third time Carson handed over the crutches, he had been grateful. Two days prior, Rodney's team had come though the gate, bloody and beaten. As was far too often the case, the friendly natives hadn't been all that friendly. Teyla had several fractured ribs, Sheppard an arrow wound, and Ford a nasty gash on his back. And then there had been his lover -- who he was still trying to get used to calling that -- with a concussion and a fractured tibia. He had brought the crutches over to Rodney's bed in the infirmary, clicked and slid them to their proper height, and gave a brief tutorial on their proper use. Lift with your arms and shoulders, don't swing on your arm pits, keep them close to your body, no closer, there you go. Rodney had taken an experimental swing, and his expression had relaxed a touch, even if his yammering hadn't.  
  
With the beginnings of a MH coming on, Carson stepped forward, slid his hand behind Rodney's neck, and lightly kissed him.  
  
"Home?" Carson asked.  
  
"Home," Rodney said, and began his slow -- and vocal -- hobble towards the infirmary doors.


End file.
